www.thecentersquare.com – By Nolan McKendry | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-18 10:25:00
(The Center Square) — The Louisiana Department of Health continues to struggle with a range of persistent financial and compliance issues, according to a new report released by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor.
Despite some progress, the agency has failed to resolve the majority of its prior audit findings — some of which have gone uncorrected for as long as seven years.
The audit, which reviewed the status of problems flagged in a March 2024 management letter, found that LDH had resolved only one issue: inadequate controls over and noncompliance with National Correct Coding Initiative requirements.
The remaining concerns — ranging from financial misreporting to Medicaid eligibility and provider oversight — remain unresolved and, in some cases, have worsened.
Among the most significant issues: LDH could not provide documentation to show that $248 million in Medicaid expenditures reported to the federal government had a matching state share as required. That shortfall led auditors to identify $168 million in federal questioned costs.
Additionally, the department failed to properly update federal cost-share percentages in state accounting systems for half the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024 — resulting in another $87.6 million in questioned federal costs.
In response, LDH management admitted the reporting errors and attributed the failures to staffing shortages and insufficient training.
The department said it has hired a vendor to provide support and training for federal reporting requirements and has launched a broader staff development plan aimed at improving accuracy and compliance.
Other key findings include:
For the seventh straight year, LDH failed to fully enroll and screen all Medicaid managed care and dental providers as required by federal law, leaving gaps in the accuracy and reliability of provider information.
For the fourth consecutive year, the department lacked adequate financial controls and submitted inaccurate federal schedules used to track expenditures of federal awards.
Payroll certification failures also persisted for a third year, with auditors finding LDH had not followed procedures for timesheet approvals or leave requests.
Disproportionate Share Hospital payments exceeded the federally-allocated limit by $4.2 million due to inadequate reconciliation.
Maternity kick payments — lump sum payments made to managed care organizations when a member becomes pregnant—remained noncompliant for the second straight year, increasing the risk of overpayments.
Eligibility determinations for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program remained plagued by internal control issues for the fifth year in a row.
Billing problems in behavioral health services continued into a sixth year, with auditors citing ongoing failures by LDH and its contractors, including Magellan Health Services, to prevent and detect improper claims.
Home and community-based services under the state’s Medicaid waiver programs were also paid without adequate documentation for the second year in a row.
SUMMARY: Lafayette’s 2025-2026 budget process begins with Mayor-President Monique Boulet setting her priorities after focusing her first year on stabilizing finances. Federal ARPA and CARES Act funds are ending, reducing funds for projects like road widening, parks, and transit subsidies. To address transit challenges, $300,000 is proposed for a micro-transit pilot program. Major infrastructure spending focuses on road improvements, flood risk management, and drainage programs. The budget includes investments in economic development, community planning, City Hall renovations, and arts modernization. Boulet proposes shifting more consolidated government costs to the parish due to its population growth, which may spark allocation debates.
SUMMARY: Several free back-to-school supply events are scheduled across Greater New Orleans to ease the cost and stress of school shopping. Highlights include the Children’s Museum Back-To-School Bash on July 26 in Mandeville, Victory Church’s giveaway on August 2 in Metairie, and the STEM Library Lab’s teacher event on July 24 in Metairie. Other events include the Vicious Ryders MC giveaway in Hahnville, Youth Empowerment Project and Ochsner Children’s Hospital’s fest in New Orleans East, and multiple giveaways on July 26 at locations like Xavier University and Joe W. Brown Park. Activities often feature free food, haircuts, and live entertainment.
Immigration advocacy groups sued the Trump administration for dismissing immigration court cases to fast-track deportations without judicial review. The administration aims to deport one million undocumented immigrants by year-end, resulting in arrests of immigrants appearing at court. The White House has fired Biden-appointed immigration judges and pressured courts to reduce a backlog of nearly 4 million cases. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of 12 asylum seekers, alleges unlawful policies allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrest immigrants at court and place them in expedited removal, often far from family. Plaintiffs describe abrupt detentions, poor interpretation, and distress from these practices.
WASHINGTON — Immigration advocacy groups sued the Trump administration Wednesday for dismissing cases in immigration courts in order to place immigrants in expedited removal for swift deportations without judicial review.
As the White House aims to achieve its goals of deporting 1 million immigrants without permanent legal status by the end of the year and a 3,000 arrests-per-day quota for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, immigrants showing up to court appearances have been arrested or detained.
President Donald Trump’s administration has moved to reshape immigration court, which is overseen by the Department of Justice, through mass firings of judges hired during President Joe Biden’s term and pressuring judges to clear the nearly 4 million case backlog.
The suit was brought in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by immigration legal and advocacy groups the National Immigrant Justice Center, Democracy Forward, Refugee and Immigrant Center for Legal Education and Services and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.
The suit is a proposed class action representing 12 immigrants who filed asylum claims or other types of relief and had their cases dismissed and placed in expedited removal, subjecting them to a fast-track deportation.
The individual plaintiffs, who all have pseudonyms in the court documents, had their asylum cases dismissed and were arrested and placed in detention centers far from their homes.
One plaintiff, E.C., fled Cuba after he was arrested and raped after he opposed that country’s government. He came to the U.S. in 2022 and applied for asylum and appeared for an immigration hearing in Miami.
At his hearing, DHS attorneys moved to dismiss his case “without notice and without articulating any reasoning whatsoever” and when he tried to leave the court, ICE arrested and detained him, according to the suit.
E.C. is currently detained in Tacoma, Washington, “thousands of miles from his family, including his U.S. citizen wife,” according to the suit.
New policies
The groups argue new policies from the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice are unlawful.
Those policies include the approval of civil arrests in immigration court, instructing ICE prosecutors to dismiss cases without following proper procedure, instructing ICE agents to put immigrants who have been in the country for more than two years in expedited removal and pursuing expedited removal when removal cases are ongoing.
“(DHS) has now adopted the policy that it will arrest a noncitizen and place them in expedited removal even if the immigration judge does not immediately grant dismissal or if the noncitizen reserves appeal of the dismissal—either of which means that the full removal proceedings are not over,” according to the suit. “In plain terms, DHS is disregarding both immigration judges who permit noncitizens an opportunity to oppose dismissal and the pendency of an appeal of the dismissal decision.”
The Trump administration has expanded the use of expedited removal, meaning that any immigrant without legal status who’s been in the U.S. for less than two years can be swiftly deported without appearing before an immigration judge.
“DHS and DOJ have implemented their new campaign of courthouse arrests through coordinated policies designed to strip noncitizens of their rights … exposing them to immediate arrest and expedited removal,” according to the suit.
The impact has been “severe,” according to the suit.
“Noncitizens, including most of the Individual Plaintiffs here, have been abruptly ripped from their families, lives, homes, and jobs for appearing in immigration court, a step required to enable them to proceed with their applications for permission to remain in this country,” according to the suit.
Detained immigrants’ stories
The suit details the plaintiffs’ circumstances.
One known as M.K., appeared in immigration court for her asylum hearing after she came to the U.S. in 2024 from Liberia, fleeing an abusive marriage and after she endured female genital mutilation.
DHS attorneys dismissed “her case without notice and, upon information and belief, without articulating any change in circumstances,” according to the suit.
“M.K. speaks a rare language, and because the interpretation was poor, she did not understand what was happening at the hearing,” according to the suit. “M.K. was arrested by ICE at the courthouse and detained; she was so distressed by what happened that she required hospitalization.”
She is currently detained in Minnesota.
Another asylum seeker, L.H., came to the U.S. in 2022 from Venezuela, fleeing from persecution because of her sexual orientation, according to the suit. At her first immigration hearing in May, DHS moved to dismiss her case and has received an expedited removal notice.
ICE officers arrested L.H. after she had her hearing and she is currently detained in Ohio.
Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Left-Leaning
This article presents a critical view of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement practices, primarily through the lens of advocacy groups and plaintiffs opposing those policies. It highlights emotionally charged personal stories, legal arguments, and allegations of due process violations, all of which frame the administration’s actions negatively. The article lacks input or counterpoints from administration officials or supporters, which contributes to a one-sided portrayal. While rooted in legal filings and factual claims, the framing and selective sourcing suggest a Left-Leaning bias by emphasizing the human cost and alleged injustices over a balanced policy discussion.
